Banks and other business handle mixed denominations of coins. The coins must be sorted by denomination, and the sorted coins are wrapped or bundled for deposit or later use in cash registers or change machines.
Coin processing machines, such as coin sorters and coin verifiers, have been developed to mechanically process mixed denominations of coins. Coin sorters sort the coins. Coin verifiers verify that sorted coins are made up of only coins of a single denomination. Coin verifiers are often used prior to wrapping or bundling coins discharged from a coin sorter.
Coin processing machines include a hopper that receives the coins and a processing device that sorts or verifies coins. The hopper discharges a stream of coins to the processing device where the coins move on a plate defining a coin path. In one known coin sorter, the coin path has openings for respective diameter of coins. In one known coin verifier, the coin path has a single opening that enables only coins of the desired denomination to pass through the opening. Coins having a larger diameter, however, jam the machine and must be manually removed.
A known coin sorter disclosed in Adams et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,525,104 (which patent is incorporated herein by reference) includes a hopper having a turntable or rotatable disk that receives the coins and throws the coins against a wall extending along the disk. The coins are discharged in single file and move along a circular coin path in the processing device. The circular hopper disk and circular coin path both reduce the space taken up by the coin sorter. The coins are driven along the coin path by a rotating drive disk. The drive disk overlaps the hopper disk to transfer the coins from the hopper to the processing device.
Although the known coin sorter operates well when new, overlapping of the rotating hopper and drive disks causes rapid wear of the hopper disk. The hopper disk must be replaced frequently, increasing cost and downtime. If replacement is delayed, coins discharged from the worn hopper disk are misaligned on the coin path and may be mis-sorted. The mis-sorted coins may later jam a coin verifier, causing additional downtime and expense.
Coin processing machines also typically discharge coins into discharge tubes. Coin bags are attached to bag supports on the end of the tubes and receive the coins. When a bag is filled, the machine stops and the coin bag is replaced.
One conventional bag support disclosed in Adams et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,419 requires users to thread the coin bag through a ring mounted on a flared spout. Users find this awkward and time-consuming, greatly increasing the downtime of the machine in a high-production environment. Another conventional bag support disclosed in Rassmussen, U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,598 uses a spring clamp to hold the bag onto the discharge tube. The spring clamp is easily damaged, also increasing downtime.
High-speed coin processing machines have disks mounted on motor drive shafts by nuts threaded on the shafts. The nuts press against the disks. Sudden machine stops can loosen the nuts; it is speculated that the coefficient of static friction between metal nut and metal disk is too low to generate sufficient frictional force to prevent the nut from unthreading. Some machines extend a resilient cord from the nut to the disk to resist loosening of the nut. The cords are prone to failure, further increasing downtime.
Thus there is a need for an improved coin processing machine suitable for a high-production environment that reduces downtime. The coin processing machine should reduce wear of the hopper disk, include bag supports that facilitate changing coin bags, and resist loosening of nuts caused by sudden stops from high speed. The coin processing machine should reliably sort or verify coins without misalignment of coins or jamming, and preferably should enable even higher processing speeds than conventional processing machines.